


Validation

by lululawrence



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: American AU, Bullying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mentions of Panic Attacks, Sad Louis, Shit, and I swear it is anything but, not really but there are mentions of it, or i hope it is, please read this anyway?, that's all this is, this is making this sound so depressing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 10:05:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10660302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lululawrence/pseuds/lululawrence
Summary: “Hey, how are you?” Harry asked.  He’d found that sometimes just a smile and a kind face was all that was needed to brighten someone’s day.“Oh, uhm.  I’m alright.  Can you validate me?”Harry chuckled inwardly, but decided to go ahead and take him literally.Or the one where Harry worked in a parking garage and he totally didn’t mean for this, the whole validation of people as well as their parking tickets, to become a thing.  It just kinda...did.





	Validation

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written as part of an ongoing challenge. We each select random numbers and are given a specific emotion from the book 1000 Feelings For Which There Are No Names. To read the other fics written in this challenge, [click here](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/ShortFic_Challenge_For_Which_There_Is_No_Name/works), or you can find the masterpost on tumblr [here](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com/post/159679804243/1000-feelings-for-which-there-are-no-names-prompt).
> 
> Hiiiii! Please don't let my tags scare you away. This really is the fluffiest shit. Anyway, my prompt was number 463 - The joy in your work. I was at a loss until I was talking to my bestest cheerleader, [Tin](http://silentlarryshipper.tumblr.com) and she said something that brought to mind [this incredible YouTube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao). Please do yourself a favor and watch it. It's amazing. Anyway, this fic is kinda sorta loosely based off of it, so yeah. Artistic license and all that jazz. 
> 
> This fic was betaed by the amazing [Molly](http://becomeawendybird.tumblr.com), who also happens to have a mentioned cameo in here, so thanks darling! All remaining mistakes are my own. I don't own these characters, any similarity they hold to the characters in the YouTube video is a bit more than coincidence, however it's only because I love them and nothing else. I don't own 1D, any of their members or families or whatever and yeah. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Harry didn’t mean for it to become a thing.  It just kinda...did.

Harry worked in a parking garage and while most people didn’t find that to be anything close to a dream job, he really enjoyed it.  He got to meet loads of new people every day and talk about what brought them there while he validated their tickets so they could get two hours free parking.  He liked it and his bosses didn’t care if he read between validations, so it was a win win really.

One day though, this guy came up and he just looked so down in the dumps.  Harry couldn’t help but try to cheer him up.

“Hey, how are you?” Harry asked.  He’d found that sometimes just a smile and a kind face was all that was needed to brighten someone’s day.

The man had brown hair cut short on the sides but longer on top and some well maintained scruff.  The hair had obviously been styled earlier, but due to time, frustration, or just poor products, it was beginning to wilt.  Harry thought he looked fantastic, if a little rumpled, though in need of a hug.  When he looked up, his wide brown eyes were sad.

“Oh, uhm.  I’m alright.  Can you validate me?”

Harry chuckled inwardly, but decided to go ahead and take him literally.  He could obviously use it.

“You.”  Harry paused dramatically before speaking again.  “ _ You _ are amazing.”  As soon as Harry said the first line, the man looked him in the eyes for the first time, his brow furrowed.

“I’m what?”

“You’re amazing!  You’re incredible, actually.  You look like you’ve had a long day, but you’re still going!  That’s so great.   _ You’re _ great.”

The man blinked at him, but eventually cleared his throat and just said, “I uhm.  I did have a long day, actually.”

Smiling even wider, Harry went ahead and took the man’s ticket before continuing.  “I’m sorry to hear that, but guess what?  You made it!  You got through it and now you’re going to go out and be fantastic elsewhere!  Because you don’t give up, do you?”

“No, I don’t,” the man said softly.

Harry smiled and stamped the ticket.  “I’m sorry? I didn’t quite hear you.”

“I don’t give up,” he said more firmly this time.  His eyes lit up a little bit and he was beginning to smile.  “Thanks, man.  That’s just what I needed.  I’m Liam, by the way.”

Harry held his hand out and Liam gripped it in his.  “I’m Harry.  It was wonderful meeting you.  I hope you make the rest of your day just as great as you are.”

“Thanks,” Liam said, grin wide and eyes shining now.  He took his ticket and began backing away slowly, but he hadn’t stopped looking at Harry yet.  “You have a great rest of your day too.”

Once Liam had left, Harry felt almost giddy from being able to help cheer him up and he decided from then on he would do his very best to strike up conversations with people, particularly those who didn’t look like they really wanted to talk much, and see if he could validate them as well as their tickets.

Liam, it turned out, became a regular.  He’d only parked in Harry’s garage the first time because his usual garage for work had been full, but after their conversation he began to come daily.  It had been a few weeks now, and Harry considered them friends.  

Another regular was a guy named Niall.  They’d begun chatting because he had been obviously flustered and it turned out -- due to a bad experience inside the Verizon Wireless store -- he was on the edge of a panic attack.  Harry was able to help him calm down and get what he needed so he could safely drive himself home.  After that, sometimes Niall would just stop by to say ‘Hi’ and keep Harry company during his shifts.

Harry found that as he focused more on people and saying kind things they maybe didn’t get to hear from anyone otherwise, not only did he find even more joy in his work but he found the time went faster than usual as well.  As the summer moved on and it began to smell more like fall leaves and barbecues rather than sunscreen and swimming, Harry came to realize he might feel like the time was going faster because he was busier too.

“Dude, are more people coming to the garage than there used to be?” he asked Niall one night when they were leaving the garage.  They went out twice a week after Harry’s long shifts finished and grabbed a bite to eat from a diner just down the road.

Niall laughed before looking at him with his bright blue eyes.  “Uh, yeah.  I thought you’d noticed by now.”

Harry had been working at the garage for almost a year and he’d steadily been increasing the numbers of validations he’d done for a while, but he thought the numbers would go back down again.  He wondered if he’d just lost track and it was really the same, he just talked with people more so it felt like he was busier.

“Liam and I were talking last night over dinner and we both think it’s because of you and how you make everyone feel so great.”

“Wait,” Harry stopped walking, causing Niall to have to turn around and take a few steps to return to his side.  “You went to dinner with Liam last night?”

At that Niall blushed a little and shrugged.  “I mean.  Maybe we’ve been talking a little since we met a few weeks back and he might have asked me on a date.”

Harry let out a whoop and then laughed.  “Oh my God, that’s amazing!”  Niall just grew more red and finally grabbed Harry’s arm and dragged him the final few feet into the diner.

“Shut up, it’s not a huge deal.  It was just a date,” he said quietly before turning to the hostess who also happened to be the night manager.  “Hey, Marie!  Just us two again.”

“Hey, boys.”  The maternal woman who claimed to have adopted Harry and Niall a few weeks ago looked at them fondly.  “Go ahead and take your regular booth.  I saved it for you.”

“Thanks, Marie!  You’re incredible, you know that?” Harry said with a quick kiss to her cheek.  “You’re my favorite hostess to ever adopt me.”

Marie swatted at his bum and he skipped away laughing.

“I swear you boys are actually just twelve and not grown men in your twenties!” she called after them.  

“Stop yelling, you’ll scare away all the guests!” Niall teased, gesturing to the few regulars who were enjoying their meals.  Marie just shook her head before going back to doing whatever paperwork she had been busy with before they’d disrupted her.

Once they’d gotten settled in the booth, Harry leaned his arms on the table and propped his chin on his hands.  He looked up at Niall through his eyelashes and gave him as innocent a smile as he could.

“Niall.”  

Niall grunted and pretended to read the menu, even though they’d known what they were ordering before they left the garage.  

“Niiiiaaalllll!”

“Leave me alone, you fucker.”

Harry tried to hold back the laughter, but a few giggles did escape.  “Come on, Ni.  Tell Harry about your date with Liam.”

“No.  I’m never coming to talk with you during your shift again.  You’re annoying as shit and I have no idea why I thought I liked you.”

Harry pouted and almost had Niall ready to spill details when a server who definitely wasn’t Molly came to the table.

“Hello, I’m Louis and I’ll be your server tonight.  What can I get you to drink?”

Harry stayed in his hunched over position and just turned his head to look at Louis.  He was about to ask after Molly, she was their favorite server after all, but that was before he realized the man standing in front of him was more than just a man.  He was glorious.  Sure, his uniform of black jeans and a black tee with a black serving apron in the front was covered in what looked to be at least twelve hours of food gunk, but  _ God.   _

His hair was held back with a blue elastic headband that Harry could swear was the same color as his eyes.  His cheekbones were just... _ shit.   _ And then the little bit of scruff he had lining his face even though it looked like he probably shaved that morning was just... _ fuck.   _ In other words, Harry had been sitting there just staring at the man with his mouth hanging slightly open for far longer than was socially acceptable, but he couldn’t help it.  In addition to his obvious beauty, the man also looked incredibly sad.  He was a bit lost in his thoughts, so he was lucky that Niall came to his rescue.

“Yeah, I’ll have a coke, no ice please, and the idiot over there will have a green tea.”

Harry finally forced himself to sit up and straighten his own uniform shirt in some attempt to look decent in front of this demigod.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to stare,” Harry finally forced out.  He was quite proud of himself for sounding unphased.  Mostly.  “But, uhm, where’s Molly?  She’s always here on Thursday nights.”

Louis kept his face looking serious and didn’t even give Harry the beginnings of a smile.  “She had an emergency at home, so I stayed on for her shift.  I’ll go grab your drinks and be right back to take your orders.”

Louis walked away and Harry couldn’t take his eyes off of him.  He gave off such an aura of sadness, and Harry couldn’t stand to see someone that way.  He had to find a way to get Louis to smile or at least not look so fully downtrodden.

Harry had no idea how long he was sat watching Louis go about his business gathering things and typing stuff into the computer before Niall waved his hand in front of Harry’s face to get his attention.

“Dude.  What the hell?  He’s pretty, but you were somewhere else.”  Niall looked at him and arched an eyebrow.  

“Pretty’s a bit of an understatement, don’t you think?” Harry scoffed.  “Anyway, he just looks so sad.  I want to try to cheer him up.”

A lecherous grin grew on Niall’s face and he didn’t even have to say anything for Harry to know what he was thinking.

“Oh my God, no.  Not like that!  I just want to see him smile!” Harry protested.

Niall nodded his head.  “Mmhmm.  That’s what she said.”

“Here’s your drinks,” Louis said as he carefully placed their drinks down.  “Are you ready to order or do you need some more time?”

“Oh, I think we’re ready, thank you,” Harry said, turning up his charm and smiling widely.  This was always step one while he was working.  Smile and be kind.  Step two was find out something about them and compliment them.  Everyone needs to hear more positive things about themselves, and he hoped that was all Louis needed.

“Okay, what’ll you be having?”  Louis pulled out his pen and notepad, avoiding all eye contact so Harry’s smile wasn’t even seen.

Niall ordered his regular and then it was Harry’s turn.  Harry didn’t speak though, he wanted Louis to look at him.  Once Louis was done writing what Niall wanted, Louis looked at him and arched an eyebrow.

Keeping his smile wide, Harry asked, “What’s your favorite entree?”

Louis looked a bit irritated to be asked, which wasn’t Harry’s intention at all.  This was definitely backfiring.  “Well my favorite is the Sink Burger, the one that has so many toppings it’s got ‘everything and the kitchen sink’, but that’s obviously just to my taste.”

Louis said it somewhat snappily, but still masked his tone enough enough so Harry only felt slightly chided for asking.  “Okay, uhm, I’ll just have the chicken fingers and fries, thanks.”

Louis nodded and walked off.  Harry was disappointed, but still wanted to do what he could to cheer him up.  No matter what he did though, Louis just brushed off the efforts or made Harry feel worse for having even attempted to do it.  All he wanted to do was make him smile.  Was that really so awful?

As they left the diner, Harry was discouraged.  He’d never met someone he couldn’t cheer up before.  Niall wrapped his arm around Harry’s shoulders and pulled him in close.

“Dude.  It was one guy.  It’ll be okay.”

Harry rolled his eyes at himself.  He knew that.  He’d likely never even see Louis again, but he took such pride, you might even be able to call it joy, from helping people grow happier and maybe even more confident every day while he was at work that he had hoped that he could help Louis smile during his shift as well.  In the grand scheme of things it wasn’t all that important, but Harry could tell he wouldn’t be able to let this go anytime soon.

“Thanks, Ni,” was all he said back.

“See you tomorrow?” Niall asked once they’d gotten back to the garage and it was time for them to go their own ways.

“Yeah.  Tomorrow.”

 

*~~***~~*

 

Harry was in a bit of a funk.  Even he could admit that.  He’d had a hard time waking up that morning and had been a bit crabby from the get go.  Getting to work for his early shift hadn’t really made things any better though.

He usually did his best to try to smile and greet everyone cheerfully and then offer out compliments and have real conversations, but he just didn’t have the energy.  

About an hour into his shift, Harry met a young girl.  She looked to be around 16 and had long dark hair.  She had obviously been crying, and Harry was a bit concerned.

“Hey.  How’s your day been so far?” he asked kindly.  She looked up at him with sad eyes that looked incredibly familiar, but Harry couldn’t place them.  He knew he’d never met her before.

She gave out a laugh tinged with bitterness before saying, “I’ve had better.”

“Why’s that?  I’m sure you’re an amazing person who deserves to have the best days.  What’s happened to make this one so bad?”

He held the ticket she’d handed over before she burst into tears again.

“I’m sorry!  I don’t usually cry like this.  I just…”  

She seemed to be crumpling in on herself.  Harry quickly walked around his validation stand and held his arms open.

“I won’t touch you if you don’t want, but it looks like you could use a hug.”

She nodded before throwing herself into his arms and crying on his chest.  He patted her back and pet her hair until she’d gotten it out and seemed to be calming down a little.

“I’m sorry, I’ve made the entire front of your shirt disgusting.”  She patted at the front of his shirt before wiping at her cheeks.  “It’s just been a horrible day to top off an entire week of ugliness and I couldn’t handle it anymore.”

Harry watched as she took a deep breath to steel herself, straightened her shoulders, and then lifted her chin.  

“You’re pretty incredible, you know that?”

Her eyes popped open, and while still red tinged they looked at him in surprise.

“You are.  You’ve had this incredibly rough week, but you’re still going.  You’re so amazingly strong.”

He watched as her eyebrows furrowed and she tilted her head.  “What are you saying that for?  What do you want from me?”

Harry laughed.  “I don’t want anything.  I’m just saying what I think.  And I think you’re a hero.”

She blinked at him and just studied his face, so he continued.

“You’re out here, unafraid to accept kindness in the form of a hug.  Do you know how hard so many people find it to allow themselves to accept kindness and support?  Incredibly hard.  But you didn’t even think twice.  And I just watched you go from crying one second, to pulling yourself together like you’re ready to face the world again in less than thirty seconds.  That right there is definitely a superhero move.”

At that, the girl smiled a little.  “I’m not a hero.”

Harry nodded his head.  “Yeah, actually.  You are.  And not just an average one either.  You’re a superhero.  I bet you have your secret spandex outfit hidden beneath the clothes you’re wearing and you’re on the lookout for a phone booth so you can change into your true form and save someone.”

At that her smile took over her entire face.  “Well.  That’s true.”

Harry laughed with her this time.  “Don’t let whatever has happened this week get you down, okay?  You’re so much better than that and so much stronger too.  The world needs your smile.”

Her eyes watered a little as she nodded again.  “Yeah.  Okay.”

“Okay,” Harry smiled back.  He stamped her ticket and gave it back to her.  “You’re a superhero.  Have a superhero rest of your day.”

She nodded and walked off.  Harry might still have lingering regret over not being able to help Louis last night, but he was so glad he was able to help this girl today.  He wiped at the wet spots on his shirt with some tissues and determined to do better than he had been.  

The shift continued and Harry felt the warm feeling of helping others spread through him knowing he was improving the days of so many.  He was helping them save money and leave with smiles and that in turn made him feel amazing.  

The afternoon came and with that was his usual rush of people who had gone to the shops after getting off work.  There was a line of people waiting to get their tickets validated, and it went as slow as it always did with Harry because he was so intent on making a personal connection.  Most of them were familiar with how he worked and didn’t have any issues, but around 3:30 there was a bit of a commotion near the back of the line.  He heard a male voice saying, “Excuse me,” repeatedly.  He looked around the man at his stand and could see someone making their way through the line.  He recognized the all black uniform and the warm brown hair from the night before, but today there was a smile when last night all he’d found was at best apathy and at worst sadness and frustration.

“Louis?” Harry asked, still not sure if he was seeing correctly.  

Louis turned from the apology he was about to make to the woman whose purse he’d just nudged as he tried to get between her and the wall.

“Hey,” Louis said, smile bright and wave a bit shy.  

The entire line seemed to be watching them, wanting to know what was going on.  Honestly, Harry did too.

“You’re smiling,” he said stupidly.  He shook his head, trying to get it to work right again before saying, “I mean, what are you doing here?”

The people in line moved over so Louis could walk up to the stand and didn’t have to speak quite so loud.  It didn’t mean everyone wasn’t listening in anyway, but it was the thought that counted.

“My sister has a really rough time with school,” Louis said out of nowhere.  

Harry was confused what this had to do with anything, but figured it was worth hearing out if Louis wanted to give him this information.  After all, Harry was fairly certain he would happily listen to any and all stories Louis wanted to share with him.

“She’s always been bullied for being a little different, and she’s never had that much self confidence.  The other kids in her classes are the worst, and she only has one or two close friends, neither of whom go to her school.  

“Anyway, this week was especially bad thanks to some class projects and exams going on, but this morning she ended up leaving school within a half hour of getting there because some idiot that I swear I’m going to track down was stupid enough to fill her locker with photocopies of her yearbook picture from last year with faces and God awful comments written all over them.  She came to me, since she knew she would be in big trouble with our mom for skipping school.  I did what I could, but we were busy and she eventually left before I could talk to her more than a few minutes.”

At this, Louis paused and just looked at Harry with the smile on his face changing a little in fondness.  Harry was still confused what any of this had to do with him and why Louis was here now.

Louis looked to the others in line before asking, “Does he always act so selflessly?”

There was a chorus of yesses, and now Harry was blushing as well as confused.

“She came to you after leaving the restaurant, Harry.  That’s your name, right?”  Harry nodded and Louis continued.  “She texted me about this boy she met in the parking garage and how amazing he was to her.  How he gave her a hug and let her cry on him before he told her she was a superhero.  You convinced her, at least a little bit, that she really is.”

Harry was getting a little emotional hearing this.  He was so glad that he’d been able to help her, but he had no idea what she had been battling.  Louis walked around the little stand that separated them and looked at Harry.

“As soon as she described what you looked like and some of the things you’d said, I knew it was you.  I was horrible to you last night.  I’m sorry.  I was so worried about Fizzy and what we were going to do to help her against the bullying that I was just frustrated I was stuck at work instead of helping her.  I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.  Especially when you’ve helped her feel so much better by showing her such kindness.”

Harry cleared his throat in an attempt to be able to speak through what could quickly become tears and said, “That’s okay.”

Louis shook his head.  “It’s really not.  Can I make it up to you?”

“You really don’t have to,” Harry said, still trying to wrap his head around what exactly was going on.  Louis kept stepping closer and closer, and Harry’s brain was likely to short circuit if he kept doing that.  

“Go to dinner with me?” Louis asked quietly.  “It’s fine if you aren’t interested or are taken or whatever.  I just really want to get to know you better, if you’ll let me.”

“Okay.  Yeah,” Harry said, not able to help the smile spreading on his face now.  This beautiful man had just asked him out.

At that, the entire line of people who had slowly come to crowd around the validation stand cheered and clapped.  Harry waved at them, trying to get them to calm down, but they just laughed.

Louis bit his lip before saying, “You’re a really great person.”

“Just trying to find some joy in my work.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked it. If you did, please consider leaving kudos and a nice comment and I'll particularly love you if you reblog my fic post found [here](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com/post/159716330463/validation-by-lululawrence-hey-how-are-you).


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